


To Be Found Again

by antivansdoitbetter



Category: Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, Rune Factory 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:30:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antivansdoitbetter/pseuds/antivansdoitbetter
Summary: Zaid takes a trip to Selphia, and finds he may not be as alone as he thought. (Rating for brief mentions of death)





	

There were quite a few times Raven regretted talking, and bringing up Selphia to the univir was becoming one of them. It wasn’t a problem she had with Kuruna or Ondorus, but after she had mentioned the Guardians to the two of them, they had jumped at the chance to go visit and had brought Zaid along kicking and screaming. The dwarf didn’t like traveling, and had some complaint the entire way. It wasn’t exciting enough for him, or why weren’t there more things to fight? Raven considered herself a patient woman, but she was ready to tear her hair out as they approached the gates of Selphia. 

For all his complaining, Zaid was taken aback at how large the human town was. It was nothing like Sharence. The tall buildings would swallow the village he called home like it was nothing. His friends were glad for the silence, as Zaid wondered how the humans had managed to make things so tall. As they approached the plaza, they decided to split off, allowing Raven to tend to her work. 

“Are you coming with us, Zaid?” Kuruna asked. Zaid shook his head.

“I’m gonna do some exploring,” he said. “You guys have fun.” There was a small chorus of “suit yourself” before Ondorus and Kuruna left in search of the Guardians. Zaid looked around, stretching on his tiptoes to look at the castle. He whistled. A human prince, he thought. He’d like to meet them. He had long ago stopped resenting all humans for what happened to his tribe. Micah had showed him that not all of them were like the ones who had killed his family, and with the Unity Festival years behind them, he had made many human friends in Sharance. The pain of his loss still burned in him, but he wasn’t going to let himself fall into bitterness ever again.

As he wandered, he chatted with tourists and villagers alike. He met a young butler, who spoke to him cordially, before explaining he was late, and rushing off at a pace Zaid didn’t know humans were capable of. He laughed to himself, still in wonder of this human village. There were so many people to meet. He wandered into a flower shop by chance, drawn in by the sound of jovial laughter inside. 

As he entered, he stifled a smug grin. Inside was a girl with green hair and wings coming out of her back, floating up near the rafters to water the hard-to-reach flowers there. He had found one of the Guardians Raven had spoken about even before Kuruna and Ondorus. The Guardian floated down, high-fiving an elf woman as they cheered. Zaid cleared his throat.

“Oh! Welcome!” said the elf woman. “I’m the Great Detective Illuminata, and this is my trusty assistant, Amber,” she said. Zaid smiled at them, lifting a hand in greeting.

“I’m Zaid,” he said. He was a little more than surprised when Amber bolted up to him, taking his hand and shaking it excitedly.

“It’s nice to meet you Zaid! Say, are you a dwarf?” she asked. Zaid puffed out his chest a little.

“Yeah, I am,” he said proudly. Amber ooh-ed.

“You have very lovely eyes,” she said, and Zaid puffed up just a little more.

“Ah, thank you,” he drawled, barely missing humility. “It’s a trait from my tribe.”

“Oh, that’s nice! You know, Doug has silver eyes too, is he from your tribe?” 

Zaid froze. His mind flashed back to a time long ago, to a young dwarf in his tribe, not even old enough to hold a hammer. Little Doug, could it be? He shook his head, it couldn’t be. They were dead, all of them. He had seen the destruction with his own eyes. It couldn’t be, could it? He felt his heart beat fast.

“Doug? Where is he?” he asked, just a bit too forcefully. Amber took a small step back, looking worried.

“The general store. Did I say something wrong?” Zaid didn’t stop to answer her. He flew out of the flower shop, stopping a couple of tourists, to ask where he could find the general store. He must have looked a mess, as they stared as they pointed up the road. Zaid forgot to thank them as he ran. 

As he burst into the general store, he scanned the room. In front of the counter was a well-dressed man with wavy blond hair. He was leaning on the counter speaking and laughing with someone with red hair. Zaid stepped further in. The bond man turned.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you have a question?” he asked kindly. Zaid couldn’t take his eyes off the red-haired man, who hadn’t looked up from the desk.

“Doug?” he asked, his voice sounding a million miles away. Finally the red-haired man looked up, meeting Zaid’s eyes and they both froze. Silver eyes meeting silver eyes, they stared at each other long enough to make the blond man shuffle uncomfortably.

“Uh, Doug, do you know him?” the blond man asked. Doug didn’t break eye contact.

“Zaid?” he asked, his voice sounding childlike, broken. Zaid huffed a laugh, tears forming at the edges of his eyes.

“Look at you all grown up, squirt,” he said. Doug stood up from the desk, running around and catching Zaid in a bear hug. Zaid held him close, letting the tears fall. 

“I thought you were dead,” Doug sobbed against him, shaking. Zaid put a hand on the back of his head.

“I thought you were dead. I thought everyone was gone,” Zaid said through his tears. They stood, crying into each other, like lost brothers, not wanting to let go and find it all was a dream. Relief, and anger, and guilt, and sadness all washed over Zaid. If he had looked harder, not given into grief, maybe he could have found Doug sooner. Tentatively, they parted, wiping their eyes. There was a long silence, before the blond man spoke up.

“So, I’m guessing you two do know each other?” he said. Zaid laughed once. 

“You could say that,” he said, his voice still raw from crying. Doug wiped at his eyes, trying his best to stop the tears, but failing. Zaid explained to the blond man, who he found out was named Lest, about what had happened. Apparently, Lest was aware of the fate of their tribe, and Zaid felt a rush of relief that Doug had found a place that was welcoming of him. 

“Well, I feel like the two of you have a lot of catching up to do,” Lest said smiling. “Go up to Porcoline’s and tell him lunch is on me. I’ll mind the store and let Blossom know where you are.” Doug nodded. 

“Thank you, Lest,” he said. He lead Zaid to the restaurant, and they spent the day catching up. They cried, and laughed, and cried more, as they told their ends of the story. As the day ended, Zaid knew he had to get back to Kuruna and Ondorus. 

“I’ll be back,” he promised Doug, clapping his shoulder. “You stay out of trouble, squirt.” Doug laughed.

“I’m a grown-up now, are you really gonna keep calling me that?” he asked. Zaid smiled.

“You can’t stop me,” he said, pointing a finger in Doug’s face. He clapped Doug on the back once more for good measure, and started down the steps.

“Oh and squirt? Next time you get to meet my family,” he said. Doug smiled a genuine smile. 

“I look forward to it, Zaid.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally a prompt on tumblr from @selenaestella
> 
> Cross-posted to my tumblr runeys-and-radishes


End file.
